Sunday, September 15, 2013

Bottled water is expensive and, more often than not, no better for you than tap water. The plastic from the bottles can leach into what you are drinking, and the water, sometimes, isn't even purified. While there are companies that offer pristine spring water, again, the bottles sort of contaminate what's inside.However, the convenience factor is valid. It's much easier to drink from a bottle of water while running (though a SIGG filled with tap water is equally effective), and transporting a big bottle to a football game makes more sense that running back and forth to a water fountain.

Years ago, I starting buying Effervé, which is a sparkling French lemonade. It's sold in an embossed glass bottle, with a swing top cap that has a rubber stop and a metal flip. They are beautiful bottles, and great to reuse for other beverages. I started buying Effervé for the bottles, drank the contents, washed them out, and began putting tap water into the bottles. I'd keep them in the refrigerator so that the water would stay cold.

Next, I picked up a vintage milk bottle carrier and started storing a handful of empty vintage bottles in it, a ball jar to hold napkins, and left a few slots open for our glass bottles of tap water. When I'd bring water to the dinner table, I didn't have to worry about filling a pitcher, or filling (and getting up to refill) each glass individually from the kitchen. Instead, I'd bring a few refillable glass bottles.

Vintage milk bottle carriers go for about $60. I got mine at a barn sale for $7.

Eventually, I had so many bottles that I had no place to store them. I gave most of them away. And of course, the minute I parted with them, I found I needed more. Tired of drinking lemonade but desperate for more swing top glass bottles, I was happy to discover that 360 vodka had a similar bottle. The only difference, really was that the embossing said 360 instead of whatever it was that the lemonade glass said.

360 vodka makes a nice looking bottle, and practical to boot. Now, to get that label off!

Being a vodka drinker, I thought I'd give it a shot (pun intended). As soon as I finished the first bottle, I was thrilled to see that the bottle was both functional and attractive. The label has been a bit tougher to remove, but the drinking of the 360 was far more interesting that the lemonade had been. Not a bad trade off.Tiffany Palisi is the owner of Domestic Goddess Ltd., a company
that specializes in hand poured, scented candles. In addition, she
refinishes furniture and sells vintage items through her online shop,
Second Chance Vintage. She resides in New Jersey with her family. She can be reached at domesticgoddessltd@aol.com.

Monday, September 9, 2013

You'd think that living with a meteorologist, I'd be more weather aware. Instead, I rely on getting a personal forecast at a moment's notice and, because of that, I don't really think about the weather. He tells me if it's going to rain, or be unseasonably chilly, allowing me to be lazy and not pay attention. But the weather we've had these past few days has demanded my attention.

Autumn or Summer?

It's been so chilly, with temps dropping into the 50s, that I'm physically shocked at how cold it's gotten. My dogs have also taken notice and have new found energy, since the oppressive heat has lifted. The autumnal chill has gotten me deep into thoughts of apple picking, fires in the fireplace (in addition to the fire pit), and (dare I say) pumpkin picking. I've been melting wax to make warm scents like butter pecan, pumpkin bread, and s'mores scented candles.

And while I sit freezing in our home, snuggled in my writing chair in a cozy Jetty sweatshirt and contemplating kicking on the heat, I try and wrap my head around the fact that a warm front is about to push through and bring us temps in the low to middle 90s in just two days. That's a 40* difference.

I'm wondering what I prefer; the revisiting weather of summer, or the introduction into fall. The thought of summer weather again will be lovely, but I am just starting to adjust to thoughts of fall. Add to that the fact that it's getting darker earlier, and the kids are in school... it just doesn't feel like summer to me. How about you? What's your preference?Tiffany Palisi is the owner of Domestic Goddess Ltd., a company that specializes in hand poured, scented candles. In addition, she refinishes furniture and sells vintage items through her online shop, Second Chance Vintage. She resides in New Jersey with her family. She can be reached at domesticgoddessltd@aol.com.

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About the Domestic Goddess

Regardless of who you are or what you do, taking care of your life is critically important. Your home is your space, your food, your family, and the things that make you happy. What you eat, what's in your home, reading, and taking time for yourself really do matter, I assure you. Check here for my weekly posts; I promise to include recipes, product and book reviews, things I've learned from other [smarter] people.
Perhaps, at some point, I will learn to knit. For now, I am home taking care of my two dogs, my husband and our four kids. Stay tuned.